At 151 acres and over a mile and a half long, Narrow Pond would be considered a lake by most. Even with this area, the deepest water is just nine feet, typical of northern Maine's small glacial lakes that are over 10,000 years old.

If not for a myriad of springs feeding the rich waters, few if any brook trout would survive the warm days of summer. But they have survived for eons and well enough so that Narrow Pond remains one of only 216 Maine lakes that has never been stocked.

Like most things in nature, the ecosystem of Narrow Pond is complex. Although brook trout are the most common fish here, others, though not often seen, include white suckers, red-bellied and black nosed dace, cusk or burbot. While cusk generally live in deep lakes, their presence here has just recently been documented. According to data collected for the last twenty-two years, Narrow Pond Squaretails feed on leeches, shrimp, scud, dace and all phases of insects including May, Caddis, Damsel, Dragon, and Blackflies. An interesting feeding frenzy sometimes occurs during the spring, when salamanders make an exodus to the pond waters to lay their eggs.

Spring inlets and seeps are essential for these trout to survive, when the pond temperature reaches over 70°F during late June, July and early August. During these warm weeks several hundred Brookies may congregate near any one cold water influence, making for outstanding fly fishing. Predation in any ecosystem is normal and healthy and Narrow Pond is no exception. Otters, mink, eagles, osprey, loons, mergansers, Great Blue Heron, cormorants, and larger trout all prey on trout here.

The Maine Inland Fisheries and Game have been responsible for the management of this fishery for decades and have responded well to suggestions made by the public. Prior to regulation changes implemented in the last fifteen years, trout numbers suffered from a liberal bag limit and too general angling methods. Current regulations specify artificial lures (flies included) a limit of two fish (at least 12 inches long) but only one may be over 14 inches. This slot length is designed to limit the taking of mature fish therefore preserving the gene pool of fish that are capable of reaching a large size.

Google Maps-> Narrow Pond

Information about Narrow Pond from the website- Lakes of Maine

From WikiPedia- About Piscataquis County, Maine, the county where Johnson's Allagash Lodge and Narrow Pond are located- Piscataquis County, Maine

Quote from WikiPedia:
"In land area, Piscataquis is one of the largest U.S. counties east of the Mississippi River. It is also one of two counties in the Northeast (and seven counties east of the Mississippi River)[3] that meets Frederick Jackson Turner's requirements for "frontier" country – that is, having fewer than six inhabitants per square mile, the other being Hamilton County, New York."

Baxter State Park, a large wilderness preserve, is also located in Piscataquis County.

Narrow Pond Habitat

Download Allagash Lodge Nature Almanac, a gift from author Marnie Reed Crowell. This 49 page PDF is a listing of Flora and Fauna you'll likely encounter on a visit to Narrow Pond. Use it as a northern Maine field guide from your mobile device. You'll want to get your copy before heading up to the lodge; we're well out-of-range of all cellphone towers.

Written by Marnie Reed Crowell with photographs by Kenneth Crowell, Marnie Reed Crowell and Bob Johnson

Allagash Lodge Nature Almanac.pdf ©2014 

The PDF above is free to download, thanks to author, Marnie Reed Crowell.

NARROW POND- T8 R14 WELS, PISCATAQUIS COUNTY, MAINE